South Asian Bar Association
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The South Asian Bar Association was founded in 1993[1] to ensure that Bay Area South Asian lawyers were provided an avenue to develop professionally, network among peers and volunteer within the South Asian community. Since then, SABA has organized MCLE events, monthly luncheons, happy hours, and mentorship events for its members, hosted the SABA annual banquet,[2][3]supported and hosted fundraisers for South Asian community support and social service organizations, and advertised, facilitated, and encouraged members to provide pro bono legal services to those in need.
A specialty bar association, the South Asian Bar Association is an independent affiliate of the American Bar Association and represents attorneys of South Asian origin in Northern California.
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[edit] Mission
The South Asian Bar Association of Northern California:
- promotes alliances between South Asian legal professionals in Northern California and throughout the nation;
- advocates for the South Asian community;
- supports those who value diversity in the legal profession;
- assists law students, and those interested in the law, with developing contacts with practitioners;
- provides information to members on careers and the legal market in Northern California; and
- provides an avenue for professionals and other community leaders to take an interest in matters of concern to South Asian attorneys.[4]
[edit] Committees
SABA is composed of a number of committees dedicated to its mission.[5] These committees include:
- Civil Rights Committee -- This committee works with other organizations to formulate media and/or legal responses to incidents, cases and proposed legislation impacting South Asian communities.
- Endorsements Committee -- This committee makes endorsements recommendations to the SABA Board for judicial, prosecutorial, public defender, and other appropriate positions, as well as on issues affecting the legal community and the South Asian community. It also nominates SABA members for legal awards and leadership positions within the legal community. Its mission statement and endorsement process can be found here.
- Events Committee -- This committee plans networking, social, educational, and community service events for South Asian attorneys and law students in conjunction with other professional organizations in the Bay Area.
- External Development Committee -- This committee focuses on developing relationships between SABA and various national and international legal and professional organizations.
- Membership Committee -- This committee develops and implements strategy to increase membership and improve quality and number of services for members.
- Mentorship Committee -- This committee serves as liaison between attorney members, new attorneys, and law students. It strives to pair mentors with mentees based on areas of interest or expertise. The committee also works to develop contacts and relationships with the various Bay Area South Asian Law Student Associations.
- Pro Bono Committee -- This committee identifies pro bono opportunities for members and makes recommendations to the SABA Board regarding involvement and joint participation in pro bono activities.
[edit] Accomplishments of Note
- Advocated for the successful appointment of Amul Thapar as the first federal South Asian judge in America.[6][7] He will serve on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
- Hosted the 4th Annual NASABA Convention which almost 800 attorneys attended.[8]
- Condemned hate crimes in South Lake Tahoe and Sacramento, and supported the hate crime victims of both attacks.[9]
- Condemned and rallied against the state of emergency in Pakistan.[10]
- Advocating for an increase in H-1B visas.[11]
[edit] Board of Directors
SABA is governed by a Board of Directors.[12] The current board consists of:
President -- Shirish Gupta
Vice President -- Zer Iyer
Secretary -- Nina Paul
Treasurer -- Gaurav Mathur
Sylvia Bains
Hitesh Barot
Harmeet K. Dhillon
Neville Fernandes
Jolsna John
Khurshid Khoja
Deepa Menon
Tahir J. Naim
Snehal Patil
Vid Prabhakaran
Supriya Sundarrajan
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Official Website of the South Asian Bar Association
- ^ Article in the Daily Recorder CalLaw legal blog
- ^ Article in Pakistan Times
- ^ Mission Statement
- ^ List of SABA Committees
- ^ India-West Article
- ^ Courier-Journal Article
- ^ See NASABA Convention Official Site
- ^ Links to archives of ethnic press like India West and India Currents are no longer available. However this article in the Sacramento Bee references the attacks which the South Asian Bar Association responded to.
- ^ See ABA Journal article; Bar Association of San Francisco's Announcement
- ^ Article in Chronicle
- ^ SABA Board
